Online ‘Cold War’ heating up between China, U.S. and Russia, FireEye CEO says ‘There’s a grand chess game being played out in cyber,’ longtime security exec DeWalt saysLongtime security executive Dave DeWalt thinks that the majority of online attacks are now carried out by state-sponsored hackers, with the United States, China and Russia playing out “a grand chess game .”

Intel and Micron: New memory chip is 1,000 times faster than NAND Chip giants combine to create 3D Xpoint technologyIntel Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. say they developed a new breed of memory chips that could bring dramatic performance gains to computers, smartphones and other kinds of high-tech products.

Chip stocks get a boost from upbeat Intel resultsChip stocks are getting a nice boost in after-hours trade Wednesday, after sector leader Intel Corp. reported . The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF surged 2.2%, after slipping 0.5% during the regular session. The ETF, which had closed at an 8-month low last Friday, had lost 5% over the past three months through Wednesday's close, compared with a 1.8% rise in the technology-friendly Nasdaq Composite over the same time. Among the more-active SMH components seeing after-hours activity Wednesday, shares of Micron Technology climbed 2.3%, Advanced Micro Devices hiked up 2% and Texas Instruments tacked on 1.3%. Meanwhile, Intel's stock shot up 4.6%.

Intel Corp. shares rally after earnings, revenue beatIntel Corp. said Wednesday it earned $2.7 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with $2.8 billion, or 55 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue hit $13.2 billion, down from $13.8 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 50 cents a share on sales of $13.04 billion. Growth in data center, memory and "Internet of things" accounted for more than 70% of Intel's operating profit and helped offset a "challenging PC market," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said in a statement. Production of Intel's Skylake processor will deliver "exciting new PC experiences" in the second half of the year, the company said. Shares of Intel rose as much as 8% after hours Wednesday after ending the regular session up 0.2%.

What to watch for in Intel’s earnings Internet of Things and data centers may offset PC weaknessIntel is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the market close on Wednesday, and all eyes will be on PCs.

Intel downgraded by Bernstein the day before earnings are reportedIntel Corp.'s stock was downgraded to underweight from market perform at independent research firm Sanford C. Bernstein, which cited growing concerns over weakness in its datacenter business. The downgrade comes a day before the semiconductor maker reports second-quarter results. Analyst Stacy Rasgon also cut his stock price target to $25, which is 16% below current levels, from $29. He had cut his estimates on Intel last week, but maintained his market perform rating, because of a weak PC market, which Rasgon said was not overly surprising. But since then, he's seen evidence that the datacenter market has also weakened, "which would (at this point) be significantly more damaging than the spectre of weak PCs," Rasgon wrote in a note to clients. "We recognize the somewhat non-ideal timing, and risky nature of this [downgrade], but we see little prospect for good news...and see real potential for things to get worse," he wrote. The stock rose 1.1% in morning trade, but was down 17% year to date, compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 1% gain.

IBM reports advances in shrinking future chips Prototypes signal the industry is continuing to make progress in developing smaller circuitryInternational Business Machines Corp. researchers say they have developed test chips with much smaller circuitry than products now on the market.

Windows 10 will not revive PC market Opinion: PC market may have to adjust to a new normalA forecast from Gartner Inc. forecast that PC sales will drop 4.5% in 2015, even with the release of Microsoft Corp.’s next version of Windows, Windows 10. Investors may have to adjust to a new normal in the PC market.

Chip sales grow 11% in U.S. Sales of computer and mobile chips around the world climbed 5% in May, marking the 25th straight month of growth and bringing worldwide semiconductor sales to $28.2 billion, according to a report released Monday by the Semiconductor Industry Association. The Americas region recorded the biggest year-over-year gains at 11.4%, which the association attributed to the recently-enacted Trade Promotion Authority that makes it easier for the U.S. to strike deals on free trade agreements. Sales growth was also strong in China and the broader Asia Pacific region, but declined by nearly 8% in Europe and 12% in Japan. Shares of U.S.-based chipmaker Intel Corp. are down 16% year-to-date, while those of Advanced Micro Devices are down 5.2%.

The six best sectors for 2015’s second half The top performers place their sector bets for the rest of 2015Manufacturing and finance are the two industries that will lead the market during the second half of 2015, according to a select group of top performing advisers

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.